Can J Emerg Med
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The role of air medical and land-based critical care transport services is not always clear amongst traditional emergency medical service providers or hospital-based health care practitioners. Some of this is historical, when air medical services were in their infancy and their role within the broader health care system was limited. Despite their evolution within the regionalized health care system, some myths remain regarding air medical services in Canada. The goal is to clarify several commonly held but erroneous beliefs regarding the role, impact, and practices in air medical transport.
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We aimed to determine the rate of adverse events during interfacility transport of cardiac patients identified as low risk by a consensus-derived screening tool and transported by primary care flight paramedics (PCP(f)). ⋯ A screening tool can identify cardiac patients at low risk for clinical deterioration during air-medical transport. We believe patients screened with this tool can be transported safely by a PCP(f) crew, leading to potentially significant resource savings.
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Our objective was to examine the performance characteristics of a bladder stimulation technique for urine collection among infants presenting to the emergency department (ED). ⋯ The success rate of this bladder stimulation technique was lower than previously reported. The contamination rate was high, however most contaminated specimens were easily identified and had no clinical impact.